1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved method of constructing a low elevation coal processing plant and an arrangement of a coal processing method therefor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has been the practice in the coal processing field to build a coal processing plant at the site of a coal reserve. A typical plant consists of a building structure measuring upwards of 50-85 feet in height housing or supporting the various levels of machinery necessary to process coal. The cost of the machinery and construction in a typical installation can reach the tens of millions. And due to the costs of transportation and labor, it is often more cost efficient to leave the majority of equipment and structures at the site after the reserve has been exploited than to move the plant to a new site.
The new approach taken by the present invention discloses a novel arrangement of equipment and structures which eliminates a great deal of the structure and presents a lower cost plant assembly which is easier to move and requires less labor and support housing.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a new arrangement of machinery and equipment in a coal processing plant which simplifies the set up and construction of the plant.
It is another object of the invention to rearrange the equipment layout of a standard coal processing plant to reduce the required equipment and the attendant support structure required to support or house the equipment.
It is a further object of the invention to place the sumps of a coal processing plant beneath the ground (xe2x80x9cfloorxe2x80x9d) level of the plant to lower the height of equipment feeding into the sumps to reduce the overall housing structure height and costs associated therewith.
Still another object of the invention is to submerge within the sumps the pumps drawing materials out of the sumps to reduce the noise level (xe2x80x9csound pollutionxe2x80x9d) associated with the pumps by taking advantage of the sound attenuation provided by the fluids within the sumps.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.